Nesarian Social Systems
Nesarian Social Systems A description of the social systems that the Kingdom of Capitalia and Nesarian Empire used throughout the ages. From the very start, chattel slavery was illegal as per Elvetan tradition, although wage slavery and serfdom would not be abolished until later. Nesarian Feudalism Nesarian Feudalism was codified by King Mathados the Founder but was already in place by the time of his ascension to King of Ascaria. Nesarian Feudalism functioned similarly to traditional European feudalism, with a decentralised model of rule where the King ruled over various nobles who in turn ruled land occupied by free peasants and non-citizen serfs, who provided their local lord with taxes or labour in return for protection. Citizen (i.e. free) peasants mainly worked for themselves or for the common good of their village rather than directly for the lord. Citizens had to pay taxes in return for protection, and they could choose whether they had to fulfil military obligations or pay a higher rate of taxes. Taxes could also be paid with a few days labour (sometimes called the corvée) if the citizen was not willing or able to pay with money. Non-citizen serfs worked directly for the lord. They were not allowed to purchase land and could not marry or leave the town without their lord's permission. While citizens could choose which duties they wanted to fulfil, serfs had their duties assigned to them by their lord. Although these serfs were bound to work for the lord and effectively functioned like slaves, they were not the property of the lord, and although their contracts could be traded between lords, the sales were so heavily taxed that there was essentially no money to be made in it, ensuring that there was not a kind of "serf trade" between the lords. Citizenship could be earned by non-citizen serfs through 20 years of professional (not levied) military service, being bestowed land in the wills of citizens, or by the command of the King. Non-citizen serf families were sometimes granted citizenship through many years of loyal service or through acts of bravery on the battlefield. Nesarian Feudalism's decentralised structure heavily relied upon the agrarian economy and made economic and social progress slow, and it struggled to deal with the complex and rapidly increasing needs of Ascaria which was a large city by the introduction of the Republican System. Republican System The Republican System was created by the Republic of Nesaria, which in some ways was more centralised and in other ways was less centralised than its feudal predecessor. The nobility was now based on wealth rather than hereditary right, and in English these are referred to as "patricians" rather than nobles. These men were not required to be landowners but almost all were, instead their class relied upon maintaining a certain level of wealth. Patricians were eligible for higher political and military offices than the common people. Women could be part of patrician families but were not eligible to be patricians themselves. The class of citizen peasant was replaced with the plebeians, who had the same privileges as citizen peasants before but could now vote, and they no longer had to choose between higher taxes or military service as conscription was abolished. However, the general taxation rate was higher than before, and the corvée system (paying with labour instead of taxes for those unwilling or unable to pay) was continued. Non-citizens were given the right to purchase land and, as the system of lords no longer existed, they no longer had to get the permission of their lord to marry, leave town or do any other number of things. Non-citizens could earn citizenship through 25 years of military service or by decree of the Senate. In urban areas, this made non-citizens essentially identical to citizens in every respect except for the fact that they could not vote or run for office, but in rural areas there was little real change, as explained below. Although the manorial system of lords was no longer a legal, official practice, it continued regardless under a different name, jumping through legal loopholes - rather than the manors being run by lords who had serfs working for them, they were run by "businessmen" with "employees". In fact, it was in many ways a more restrictive practice than before as citizens now also fell into the manorial system. The employees signed a contract which lasted in perpetuity, where the "employer" would grant protection and order in return for labour, and when called up they had to join the employer's "private army" (rather than a levy). Employees still had to get the permission of the employer to marry and leave the premises. To begin with, these contracts were inherited, until the practice was abolished about a century after the republic's formation. Instead, the employers exploited the illiteracy of the rural population (which they made no effort to improve) by including small print, convoluted legal gymnastics and manipulating debt to ensure the continuation of the contract from one generation to the next. Unlike the old feudal system, there was no way that the rural workers would ever escape these contracts. So, in short, the urban people (particularly non-citizens) saw greater economic and social freedom in urban areas but all rural plebeians experienced a more restrictive and oppressive life, with no chance of escape. This is mostly why the monarchists in the Republican War saw overwhelming support from rural folk, but most of the cities were staunchly republican. Nesarian Neo-Feudalism Nesarian Neo-Feudalism was put in place by Emperor Mathados IV, who revived the old feudal system, but with reforms inspired by the republican system and by his own conscience. The patrician system based on wealth was abandoned, with the old hereditary nobility being re-instated - although much of the old nobility had been patricians anyway due to their inherited wealth. Both citizens and non-citizens had to pay taxes to their lord, although the system of conscripted levies was not re-introduced and military service was voluntary for all. The corvée system was also abolished - those too poor to pay taxes simply did not have to pay. In the first few years of Emperor Athdus III's reign (before he was officially crowned Emperor and was still ruling a pretender state in the War of Succession) he drastically reworked the role of the nobility. The nobles were given increased privileges, with certain state and military positions made only available to them, an impressive pension for those too old to work, and a perpetual guarantee of help if the nobles ever fell into financial embarrassment that they could prove was not their own doing. However, the nobles were expected to fulfil civil and military service obligations, losing their position if they refused to serve the state and did not have a valid reason to do so. The children of the nobles were also required to attend new schools (paid for by the state) that educated them in mathematics, science, philosophy, geography, reading and writing and military strategy. The nobility were transformed from simply those in charge to an elite class of state servants whose privileges depended upon their continued service of the Emperor. Athdus' reforms continued with little changes up to the present day. Non-citizens could not vote in mayoral elections, were not eligible for official civil service (although many non-citizens were employed by the state) and were barred from higher-up military positions, although in every other aspect they had the same rights as citizens. Non-citizens could earn citizenship through 18 years of military service, which was reduced to 15 in the 3rd century AD. Shortly after his coronation as Emperor, Emperor Athdus III extended the citizenship to every inhabitant of Nesaria, meaning that there were actually very few non-citizens left in Nesaria anyway. Since the privileges of citizens only truly meant something in Nesaria itself, few of the newly conquered non-citizens outside of Nesaria bothered to become citizens. The manorial system was totally abolished, and many of the "employers" who had been abusing their employees for generations were imprisoned. Serfdom and this kind of wage slavery were officially included in the Empire's definition of slavery, and since the penalty for owning slaves was death, most of the imprisoned landowners were later executed. Rural households now worked entirely for themselves, their only obligation being taxes to the state, and large farms that employed many workers were closely regulated to ensure that the contracts were simple and just and the wages were fair. Whilst the system became more economically decentralised, the Emperor had greater authority than the Kings of old, as the lords no longer had a levied militia of their own and the professional army was solely in the hands of the Emperor, and the nobles were obligated to perform civil or military service to keep their postion. However, it also relied more upon the talent, diligence and morality of one single person. In the hands of a good man, the state was efficient and just, but when it fell to the hands of a lesser man, catastrophe ensued - such as the Time of Troubles, the devastating results of which saw a flood of very carefully worded legislation to ensure that only the best could ever be Emperors.